cold front

temple windows rattle

icy branches snap

layered robes fly up

hearty tired monk laugh

impractical dress

in these cold front winds

Tumbled Robes

last duty done
temple lights dimmed

dark

robes tumble off
tired monk slides into bed
slow and silent
as the abbess sleeps


post dreams
pre dawn
pre light
the tired monk wakes

reaches blindly
for those tumbled robes
tosses them over
his cold bald head

starts the kitchen fires

gather the monks

gather the monks
tune the guitars
strum it out loud

find the key
work the fret
join in
pick out the notes
big
full
resonate
bend every note
in pentatonic perfection

head shaken

morning bell sounds
tired monk rises
flicks routine switches

pauses

shakes his foggy head
clearing it out
gathering for the day

a temple dog night

one last rattling door check
lights off  - candles out
tired monk duties done
good night

the temple dog rises, stretches
dashes from her dog bed
to the warmth of the couch
good night

post Christmas lights

Christmas lights dangle
shaken storm loose
cast waving colours
over the new snow

monk soup

still a little shaky
fevers fading
chills beat
by monk brewed
soup and tea

Sick Monk

shaking chills

even deep down

in monk robes

buried in blankets

bathed in fireplace heat

a most fitful sleep

finally woken

by poems boiling

in fevered dreams